Supplementary memorandum by The Road Haulage
Association Ltd (RH 22A)
Your letter of 16 March asked the RHA to consider
a further two factors that were mentioned during the oral evidence
given to the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Sub-committee
enquiry into road haulage costs. These were:
(i) The extent to which foreign based hauliers
have become active in the United Kingdom since July 1998; and
(ii) The impact of incentive payment schemes
on drivers' pay and safety standards.
You will appreciate that the only evidence we
can give is based upon our members' perceptions. These will vary
depending upon the location and nature of the haulage business
in question. No accurate statistics exist in terms of addressing
the first point but it remains self evident that foreign hauliers
plying from East Coast ports are increasingly making their presence
felt. One especially significant German operator, Willi Betz,
is reported to have some 800 trucks in the UK at any one time.
His cost base is considerably less than an UK equivalent when
seeking a return load into Europe and of course along with other
foreign based hauliers he can operate over a UK weekend, something
not permitted in France.
This trend is accelerating and whilst the recent
budget reductions in VED are welcome the increase in fuel duty,
on top of oil company increases, plus commensurate uplifting of
duty, still places the UK haulier at a distinct disadvantage.
In summary it is our certain belief that foreign based operators
are increasing their activity throughout the UK.
The second issue regarding incentive payments
for drivers is equally problematic in providing accurate evidence.
RHA members do not favour such schemes and certainly not ones
based on a number of deliveries achieved within a set time cycle
which in any case would be considered illegal if they involved
breaking the law. There is some evidence that a few operators
offer a safety related incentive, that is a bonus for an accident
free record, but this does not seem widespread.
I am afraid these answers are not likely to
satisfy the sub-committee fully. We did say during oral evidence
that the RHA intended originally to survey the impact of foreign
hauliers within the UK transport sector but then understood that
the government intended to do so. This did not occur however,
so we are reconsidering our original proposal. Unfortunately we
do not believe we can complete this before thesub-committee concludes
its enquiry. In any case we will ensure that any further evidence
will be placed before them not withstanding the time constraints.
Roger KingChief Executive
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